Anti-angiogenesis participates in antitumor effects of metronomic capecitabine on colon cancer

Inhibitory effects and potential mechanisms of capecitabine metronomic chemotherapy on colon cancer were investigated in this study. Metronomic chemotherapy with fluorouracil or capecitabine inhibited proliferation of colon cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Capecitabine metronomic chemotherapy demonstrated equal effects as CTX metronomic chemotherapy. Metronomic capecitabine or CTX chemotherapy decreased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) but elevated thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) expression, reduced CEP levels and decreased microvessel density (MVD). These results indicated anti-angiogenesis may be correlated with the antitumor effects of metronomic capecitabine in colon cancer.